Kirill Serebrennikov, Director of Cannes Film ‘Leto,’ Found Guilty of Embezzlement

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentThe Cannes Film Festival has unveiled the lineup for the 17th edition of Cannes Classics, a popular sidebar dedicated to restored heritage movies and documentaries that forms part of the Official Selection.This year’s roster comprises 25 feature films and seven documentaries.

“The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” has returned to the studio, minus the audience, after filming from Fallon’s home during the COVID-19 shutdown.

Washington Post op-ed published Saturday. “The Russia investigation was of paramount importance.

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga.He steals the show as Russian contestant Alexander Lemtov who is the favourite to win the Eurovision with his incredible song, Lion of Love.While Dan has previously shown off his musical chops when he played the Beast in the live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast, he wasn’t actually singing in this film.Honestly, we’ve never felt more betrayed in our lives.Much like his co-star Rachel McAdams, his vocals come from another vocalist, but that

Alissa Simon Film CriticQuelle surprise. The Cannes 2020 label anoints two Israeli films from male directors, both about father-son relationships and grieving.

Jessica Kiang Oscar is a Sicilian teenager with the tough-guy mohawk of a rebel and the shy, rare, dimpled smile of a child. Stanley is a handsome young Nigerian immigrant, his short hair worn in locs, who insists on saying grace before the home-style meals he prepares: banku, fish stew.

Three years ago, Kirill Serebrennikov, Russia's most celebrated theater director and the helmer of several films — the most recent being the 2018 rock musical Leto, in competition for the Palme d'Or at Cannes — woke up to find himself in a nightmare straight out of a Franz Kafka novel. His apartment and the offices of his Gogol Center, a state-funded theater, were raided by investigators who claimed he'd embezzled several million dollars in public funds.

Anthony D'Alessandro Editorial Director/Box Office EditorSolstice Studios is partnering with Fast and Furious producers Original Film on the original action thriller Shadow Run by Magnum P.I. and upcoming Cliffhanger reboot scribe Joe Gazzam.Shadow Run tells the story of a CIA agent who devoted five years of his life to capturing the Russian spy who killed his wife.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorWithin two weeks of David France reading an article in The New Yorker about the persecution of LGTBQ people in Chechnya, he was on a plane headed to Moscow.It’s there that he first met the men and women who are featured in his new documentary “Welcome to Chechnya,” which premieres Tuesday on HBO.

The recent revelation about Russia-paid bounties to Taliban forces for killing American soldiers adds an eerie and tragic timeliness to The Outpost. Rod Lurie's film depicting the real-life story of one of the bloodiest battles of the Afghan War possesses an inevitably haunting quality due to the strategic blunders that led to vastly outnumbered U.S.

Anthony D'Alessandro Editorial Director/Box Office EditorEXCLUSIVE: Enlightened Kingdom is producing the John Stephenson Obe-directed feature Lady of Heaven about Lady Fatima, the daughter of the prophet Muhammad.Separated by 1400 years, an Iraqi child, in the midst of a war-torn country, learns the importance and power of patience.

Dino-Ray Ramos Associate Editor/ReporterThe mistreatment and persecution of the LGBTQ community in Chechnya has been an ongoing issue, but in March 2017 a glaring spotlight was put on the Russian republic as reports of gay and bisexual men being abducted, tortured, beaten and even killed at the hands of authorities started coming to the forefront.

Russian theater director of embezzling state funds and imposed a three-year suspended sentence Friday in a case widely seen as politically motivated. Kirill Serebrennikov, 50, one of the most prominent theater and film directors in Russia, and his associates were found guilty of fraud and embezzling 129 million rubles (over $1.8 million) of state funding for a theater project.

Tom Grater International Film ReporterKirill Serebrennikov, the prominent Russian filmmaker behind The Student and Leto, has been found guilty of criminal fraud by a Moscow court after a controversial trial.Supporters of Serebrennikov claim the decision is politically motivated.

Andreas Wiseman International EditorAGC has closed a raft of Cannes virtual market deals on Nick Jonas-Laurence Fishburne action-thriller The Blacksmith.Sizeable pre-sales have closed in Germany & Switzerland (Constantin), France (Metropolitan), UK (Entertainment Film), Latin America (CDC & CVT), Russia (Paradise/MGN) and South Korea & Vietnam (Joy’N’Content).Pacts have also been sealed with Benelux (The Searchers), Greece (Odeon), Middle East (Salim Raima), Eastern Europe (Prorom), Asian Pay TV

As the Virtual Cannes Market heads into its final days, the majors have begun to flex their monetary muscle, with MGM closing a deal for remaining international territories on Endeavor Content's hotly-anticipated Bill & Ted sequel and several studios vying for the Will Smith/Antoine Fuqua escaped slave actioner Emancipation, which is expected to close a high eight-figure worldwide deal before Virtual Cannes wraps up.

Jessica Kiang There is a moment — little more than a sidelong glance that lingers fractionally too long — when the uneasy, sinking feeling that Charlène Favier’s Cannes 2020-labeled debut has created to that point becomes an abrupt, stomach-dropping plunge. It’s when you realize that of course this was the story it was going to tell, and almost feel foolish for holding out the hope that its wildly imbalanced central relationship might play out any other way.

Christopher Vourlias Producer Ilya Stewart was in the early days of financing “Petrov’s Flu,” the latest feature from Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov (“Leto”), when he chose to bypass state funding bodies.

Christopher Vourlias While international audiences have gotten used to Russian auteurs on red carpets from the Croisette to the Dolby Theatre, where directors such as Andrey Zvyagintsev (“Leviathan,” “Loveless”) and Kantemir Balagov (“Beanpole”) have scooped up prestigious awards and Oscar nods, more and more Russian filmmakers are focused on making a splash in the global market.Buoyed by high-octane actioners and genre titles with slick special effects, international sales for Russian films